by our College Data Analytics TeamHere you will find what students actually borrow to attend Northwest Nazarene University— how much they borrow, how that debt is spread across the student body, and what it costs to pay back. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At NNU specifically, 65% of incoming undergraduates borrow in year one, with a typical loan of $9,974 each — a figure that counts both private and federal student loans.
The typical federal loan comes to $5,456, equal to roughly 99.2% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Note that average undergraduate loan amounts shown later do not include private loans — so the full freshman figure above is not directly comparable.
Across the full undergraduate body at NNU (freshmen included), 62% take out federal student loans, for a typical $10,889 each per year. This is 99.6% more than the freshman federal average of $5,456.
Repeating that yearly amount projects to about $21,778 in two years and roughly $43,556 over four years. These projections assume the same federal borrowing each year and exclude private and Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 62% |
| Average federal loan per year | $10,889 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 709 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $7,720,040 |
The median student at NNU borrows $16,826 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $16,826 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,750 |
| Students who withdrew | $8,750 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Looking only at the median is misleading — these four percentiles describe the full debt distribution for borrowers at NNU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,166 |
| 25th percentile | $7,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,004 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,252 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at NNU.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at NNU.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 185 | $16,538 |
| Completed (graduates) | 111 | $18,696 |
| Did not complete | 74 | $13,363 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $222.32/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at NNU.
Current-Year Stafford Borrowers
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 170 | — |
| No Stafford loan this year | 15 | — |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at NNU.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for NNU follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 3.1% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 606 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Borrowing by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,500 |
| Middle income | $16,901 |
| High income | $15,750 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Borrowers
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,750 |
| Independent students | $18,500 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for NNU.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans
Unsubsidized federal student loans accrue interest every month — even while you are still enrolled. Unless you pay that interest as it builds, the balance you owe at graduation can be noticeably higher than the amount you originally borrowed.
Important to Remember
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.